CHAPTER 222: THE BATTLE ROYALE OF FRIEDEN ACADEMY [PART 1]

Several days passed. Soon, the most anticipated event for all the First Years finally arrived.

Two weeks before the event, the homeroom advisors had briefed the students everything they needed to know about the Inter-Class Battle Royale.

By the end of it, they had also advised their students to thoroughly prepare for this annual event, which would earn them academy points, honor, and glory.

It was also an opportunity for students to change their classes. Depending on their performance, even those from Class E and Class F could transfer to Class B. The appeal and benefits of doing so were obvious.

Right now, all the First Years had gathered outside of the Mistral Weave Forest.

Some wore armors or battle attires customized to their fighting styles.

The academy had permitted doing so for this particular event.

There were other students who simply wore their uniforms, but since this was a magical academy, the uniforms had enchantments that increased their defensive abilities.

The Second Years, Third Years, and Fourth Years were already looking at the screens that would show the progress of their favorite juniors in real time.

"Sister, don’t worry," Cassian said as he held his sister’s hand. "I will be monitoring your progress. If anyone hurts you, I’ll beat the crap out of them after the Battle Royale ends! I promise you this!"

The Second Year didn’t even bother to lower his voice, as if to make sure that he could be heard by as many First Years as possible.

Clearly, he was giving them a warning as well as a threat: If anyone dared to harm his little sister, he would beat the crap out of them without fail!

"Good!" Astrea nodded happily. "Make sure to beat them up, Brother!"

"Haha! Leave it to me. So, my little sister, just have fun and kill them without worries!"

"Yay!"

The First Years looked at Cassian with contempt.

They couldn’t eliminate or hurt his sister, but she could eliminate and beat them up?

Where was the justice?

Where was the fairness?

"Fran, remember what I told you, okay?" Alex said to the dwarf lady standing beside him.

"Yes." Fran nodded solemnly. "I’ll be careful."

Alex had also informed her an hour ago about the demon worshipers who would appear in the forest later.

Although Fran had been shaken by the news, Alex had assured her that she had nothing to worry about.

The young man had even asked her to help their club in dealing with the demon worshipers, which Fran had readily agreed to.

"Everyone, please listen to my announcement!" shouted Professor Gareth, catching everyone’s attention.

All the First Years stopped talking and paid attention to the Professor responsible for this special event since he was already in charge of Mistral Weave Forest.

"As you may already know, this Battle Royale will be the first major event for all the First Years," Professor Gareth announced.

"As such, the student councillors have prepared many surprises for their darling juniors. Aside from your fellow students who will be doing their best to eliminate you, phantom soldiers will also spawn inside the forest after two hours.

"These Phantom Soldiers are as strong as Rank 3 and Rank 4 monsters. Their main goal is to exterminate all of you. This Battle Royale will last for six hours. But if more than ten students remain by then, our Rank 6 Monsters will spawn in random locations in the forest.

"Don’t worry. None of you will really die when you are eliminated. You will simply be ejected from the forest, so all of you can fight to your fullest!"

The students cheered, with the exception of Alex.

He knew that two hours later, when the "Phantom Soldiers" started appearing, the safety feature that prevented the students from dying would be turned off.

The forest would also be covered by a powerful barrier, preventing anyone outside from coming to the students’ rescue.

The demon worshiper’s goal was simple—turn the forest into a slaughterhouse.

All the members of the Phantom Soldiers were demon worshipers. All were prepared to die for their cause.

These suicide soldiers intended to kill as many students as possible and thus destroy the reputation of Frieden Academy.

This plan, many years in the making, was so thorough that these demon worshippers believed they would succeed without a shred of doubt.

Alex glanced at his club members, who nodded back.

Even the usually happy-go-lucky Chuck had a serious expression as he stood beside his fiancee, Princess Xenia.

"Why are you sticking to me?" Princess Xenia demanded. "Do you want me to carry you or something? Have you forgotten that we will be sent to random locations in the forest?"

"I didn’t forget," Chuck answered. "I’m just here because I care about other people. I want to bless them with the opportunity to admire my good looks and yours at the same time."

"... If I see you in the forest, I’ll kill you first," Princess Xenia said coldly.

"On second thought, I think I should go to my best friend’s side. He might need me for emotional support." Chuck coughed lightly. "See you later, okay?"

Chuck made a strategic retreat, knowing full well that his fiancee was a lady of her word.

Alex looked amused as he watched his roommate walk in his direction. However, something else quickly caught his eye.

Latifa appeared in the gathering area, floating in the air. She was still wearing her pajamas, sleeping peacefully.

Actually, she wasn’t floating at all. Lotte had simply turned invisible and was carrying her.

Naturally, this also attracted everyone else’s notice. And to their surprise and growing anger, Latifa headed toward Alex.

When she stopped before the young man, her fan club stared daggers at him, who simply returned their glares with a smug—and extremely punchable—grin.

’Yes, that’s it!’ Alex laughed internally. ’Feel jealous! Feel envious!’

Of course, he had the good sense to keep his thoughts to himself. If the young man had dared to say what’s on his mind, it would’ve taken Latifa’s fans less than half a minute to trample him under their feet until he was one with the ground.

Professor Gareth, who was making sure that all of the First Years were present, finally raised his hand.

"The event will start in ten minutes," Professor Gareth announced. "If you want to say your prayers, now is a good time."

Some of the students chuckled, but some did in fact pray to the deities of the world.

Alex knew that it wouldn’t hurt to offer a little prayer, so he placed Dim Dim on top of Fran’s head and clasped his hands together.

"Ahem!" Dim Dim stood as tall as it could because it knew what Alex was doing.

Fran, on the other hand, couldn’t help but smile at the young man’s antics.

Out of all the Deities he could pray to, why did he pick the little bun on her head instead?

Of course, the cute dwarf didn’t know that Dim Dim was the Big Boss of all the Deities of Arcana.

Although it had lost most of its divinity after creating the world, that didn’t change the fact that Dim Dim was still the spiritual leader of everything that existed in the world.

Ten minutes later...

"Good luck to all of you," Professor Gareth said as he raised his right hand. "I look forward to seeing the final survivors of this year’s Inter-Class Battle Royale!"

A moment later, all the students transformed into beams of light that flew toward random places in Mistral Weave Forest.

Alex and Dim Dim found themselves in a small clearing beside a river located near the center of the forest.

"Well, then. It’s time for battle," Alex said. "Are you ready, Dim Dim?"

"Kukuku!"

Dim Dim chuckled impishly as it took out a brittle vial from its dimensional storage, itching to fight.

It had been looking forward to this battle, so that it could test its arsenal of throwing weapons, which it had meticulously prepared just for this moment.